Dinosaur

Writing the preview when having not seen the movie is tougher than surviving an asteroid impact.

By IGN Staff

E3 2000 Update

On May 19, Disney unleashes the suitably named CG/live-action fest Dinosaur on the masses,

and this fall, you'll be able to control the action yourself with the PC version of the hit (to be) movie.

Disney's Dinosaur seems to tell the tale of the great cataclysm that eventually lead to the death of the dinosaurs. It may seem that this is one Disney film that will end up with a mournful ending, but if every Disney film but Pocahontas are the ones to go by, that's not necessarily the case. The movie focuses on the journeys of a three-ton iguanodon named Aladar, who was separated from his own species as a hatchling and brought up by a group of lemurs. As the great meteor shower depicted in all the trailers comes about, Aladar is settled in with his lemur clan, and his life is plunged into chaos more violent than your average Jerry Springer episode.

In the game version of Dinosaur, developed by Sandbox Studios and titled, of all things, Disney's Dinosaur, you take control of three characters from the movie, Aladar, Flia, a flying Pteranodon, and Zini, a Lemur. Your goal? Nothing less than saving your species from extinction, no doubt at the hands of that very meteor shower that plunges Aladar's life into chaos.

The game plays somewhat like The Lost Vikings of ages old, with the ability to take control of the three characters independently. The eleven stages follow key sequences from the movie, and ask that you solve various tasks. One sequence sees your finding and saving an egg from the vile Raptors (probably the exact same guys who got reincarnated for Jurassic Park's fabulous T-Rex finale). Another stage has you and your two buddies escaping a horrid meteor shower.

To get through these sequences and more, you'll need to make use of each character's unique abilities. Aladar can smash obstacles with his massive tail. Flia can fly, and can thus be used to scan the region. Zini is tiny enough to fight through tight spaces. Together, these three form what I like to call "Dinosaur Rescue Unit 911," and they alone can save the dinosaurs from their known fate.

Although I personally hope they fail, cuz I'm worried that Disney will find a way to give us a happy ending beyond the implied happiness of surviving together for as long as time permits. Regardless of how the film turns out, the game, which features clips pulled straight from the movie as well dialogue from the same voice acting cast ("What? I have a clause in my contract stipulating that I have to be in a video game?"), is looking to be markedly different from the typical movie to game fare associated with Disney. Look for the Dinosaurs on your PC this September.